The Globe and Mail

Vatican and Catholic Basilian Fathers spokesperson Rev. Thomas Rosica plagiarized in columns he wrote for the Globe and Mail, Globe and Mail public editor Sylvia Stead reported.

Because of that, the Globe and Mail will no longer publish his work, according to Stead.

Fr. Rosica told iMediaEthics, “I worked closely with the Globe and Mail in their study of the articles in question. It is their right to formulate their decision.  I regret that decision.”

The Globe and Mail was alerted to the plagiarism by a National Post reporter who was investigating claims against Rosica. Stead then reviewed Rosica’s nine columns in the Globe and Mail, published between 2004 and 2016, and found plagiarism or attribution issues in three columns published in 2006 and 2013.

“Two columns included a sentence and/or a partial sentence from the Catholic News Service (CNS), of which the Catholic Register is a member. Father Rosica works with the CNS as an official spokesman, and a representative of the CNS said their service is for priests and other clients who are free to use the material as provided,” Stead reported. The Globe and Mail has corrected those two columns to note it included information from agencies.

The third column plagiarized a line from the New York Times and lifted from the Washington Post “a partial quote, paraphrase and idea.” Now it has an editor’s note reading:

“Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article failed to attribute a quote by Michiko Kakutani from the New York Times. It also did not include a paraphrase and idea from E.J. Dionne Jr. from the Washington Post. This version has been corrected.”